Auto Bravado's ideas on the the Trucks or Cars Miles per Gallon: We all want better numbers, but do we really know how to get them? Let us learn that to get results is to have fun! There are tricks that it took many mechanics decades of experience to figure out and perfect.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

1st off, I've always wanted a Flowmaster exhaust or a Magnaflow muffler upgrade for my vehicles, especially in regards to the Magnaflow muffler. I, as the web master of Auto Bravado feel compelled to say that I feel less an expert in this area because it is one of the few things that I'm not trained and qualified to install myself. However, I've done a lot of reading and carefully picked my own Flowmaster exhaust upgrades based on what I learned, between Flowmaster exhaust tubes from the catalytic converter to the Magnaflow muffler and nice chrome tip, I feel the difference from my 2 and a 1/4 inches versus the standard 1 3/4" every time I start my car. Before my Magnaflow muffler and Flowmaster exhaust had been installed for a while and calmed down by having a nice carbon particles leave the engine and fill in all the cracks on a molecular level and deaden the sound, any of my neighbors or friends that were waiting for me to come home would hear me come into the neighborhood too. Relax though, they didn't notice me if they were in their homes, usually.

The Flowmaster Exhaust and Magnaflow Muffler gave me the incredible feel, the power, and the joy of a lot more acceleration off the line and better acceleration at all the lower speeds. The Flowmaster Exhaust and Magnaflow Muffler were installed by a great mechanic who was an incredible welding artist if you ask me. I knew that the main difference that’d depend on brand a lot was the catalytic converter, so he left that up to me at a later time. Later, when I realized I didn't have a fancy Magnaflow catalytic converter or even a Flowmaster for that matter I was angry. It’s amazing how we’ll unfairly blame mechanics for things. He did for me exactly as we had discussed. Anyway, back the beginning: he asked if I was willing to sacrifice on sound. I said how much, and he said some to a lot. Until all the parts settled over a year I sometimes wore hearing protection, but realize my hearing is more acute than most. It wasn't a small upgrade. I asked for the highest flow reasonably possible and I had it.

I told him I wanted a cat and back system, meaning I wanted the catalytic converter to be a high flow and everything behind it to be 2 1/4 inches, that 1/2 inch difference is wonderful! I told him I was willing to sacrifice on the sound, but what would I get power wise? He said I'd have a lot more low end power - you know street driving, but that I'd only do a little better on the freeway. He further explained that instead of dropping from 75 to 57 going up a local mountain on the freeway, that I'd drop to like 67. His prediction was exactly true for my LSI 2.0 liter Toyota Celica engine that they also put in all Chevy Prisms and Toyota Corollas, but only a few get the LSI engine. Well, he was exactly right unless I punched it in a lower gear while on the freeway! So fun, and so bad for the car! I finally agreed to go for it. Between the Flowmaster behind the catalytic converter that wasn't upgraded like I'd originally thought I’d asked, but they hadn't charged me for a catalytic converter either. So, I later remembered I didn’t know what I’d wanted for the catalytic converter, but between the Magnaflow muffler, which has an incredible anti-resonance chamber, and the Flowmaster exhaust tubes I felt like a Pontiac commercial: Driving Excitement!

That anti-resonance chamber for the Magnaflow muffler is designed to both get the most flow possible while still cutting back on sound. That isn't enough when you're opening up your throttle on the high way with your car filled with people (at times like these I definitely put in hearing protection and offered it to any one in the back, especially the man or woman above the Magnaflow muffler - ouch), but for normal every-day stuff the sound was alright. You're only choice is to suffer a little as it breaks in or wear hearing protection. Depending on your perspective, if you have less sensitive hearing than I you may just love your The Flowmaster Exhaust and Magnaflow upgrade. I'm looking forward to learning how to add sound deadening material to my trunk before I upgrade to a tuned exhaust and a very much higher flow catalytic converter. 600 CFM's of air going through versus 200 or so, that's an upgrade. My friend Spencer taught me about how to deaden the sound by putting a layer of something or other beneath the carpet of the trunk the night he let me drive the highest end Pontiac Firebird, an enjoyable roar, but it could use some deadening of sound. To all who have read from me before and look forward to more, I have more learning to do, but when I do, I’ll write more.